People

Margaux Hein

Margaux grew up in Monaco playing basketball, skiing in the Alps, and eating croissants. She graduated with a Bachelor of Honours from the University of Queensland in 2010 after spending a year researching dung beetles’ responses to fragmentation in North Queensland’s rainforests. She then volunteered on various marine conservation programs in South Africa (Oceans Research), and Thailand (NHRCP) and decided to come back to Australia to study Marine Biology. She completed her MSc at JCU in 2014 with a project looking at the “Effects of newly implemented marine protected areas on coral health and diversity in Koh Tao, Thailand”. She is now doing a PhD looking at the potential long-term socio-ecological benefits of active coral restoration and applications to the Great Barrier Reef.

Project title:

Characterising the effectiveness of coral restoration to build reef resilience: A socio-ecological perspective

Project description:

The project investigates if coral restoration projects can re-establish a functioning reef ecosystem delivering the ecological and socio-economic goods and services of a healthy coral reef. To do so, Margaux is surveying well-established coral restoration projects in Thailand (NHRCP), the Maldives (Reefscapers), Florida (Coral Restoration Foundation), and the Caribbean (The Nature Conservancy) using indicators of ecological, as well as socio-cultural and economic successes.

Another component of her research will involve consultation with coral reef managers at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to discuss the relevance of active intervention for managing the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The results of her research will be used to produce a globally applicable best-practice guide to evaluate coral restoration effectiveness from a socio-ecological perspective. The guide will summarise the potential benefits of coral restoration, and the challenges to both reef managers and scientists in using reef restoration as a tool to secure and enhance the sustainable provision of reef ecosystem services.